Issue 722

Old Man, Old Tools

I have been intending to purchase a jointer for a couple of months now. My small shop is already bursting at the seams, but without a jointer you have to go through a lot more fuss to glue up panels. I had my eye on the RIKON 8″ Bench Top Jointer. It has a helical-style head and looks pretty awesome. And it’s selling for under $700.

Then a friend of mine said he needed to get rid of his 1960s-era Craftsman jointer, so I went and picked it up from him for free. It does have a small footprint, but it is made nearly entirely of cast iron, so it is not lightweight. There’s no fancy cutterhead, but he did have a spare set of knives! It works fine, and the gray paint job matches my gray hair. So I guess it’s going to stick around a while.

Rob Johnstone, Woodworker’s Journal

Fixing Ammonia Fuming Effects on Sapwood

Chris Marshall explains ammonia fuming for oak and what to do if sapwood creates some different coloration from the heartwood.

Drill Bits Handy for Routing Setups

When this reader needs to have his router set up to a specific depth, he seeks help from a different set of tools.

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